HURRICANE I R4118

Peter Vacher's Hurricane I, serial R4118, is a splendid example of the Hawker fighter. This 1940-vintage aircraft actually fought in the Battle of Britain, notching up 49 sorties with No 605 (County of Warwick) Squadron and shooting down five enemy aircraft while operating from Croydon. It later saw combat with No 111 Squadron before being relegated to training duties. The airframe ended up in India, which is where Peter Vacher found it. He brought it back to the UK in 2001 and a splendid return to flight, carried out by Hawker Restorations, ensued. R4118 took to the skies again just before Christmas 2004. This magnificent machine, in its original No 605 Squadron markings, is a wonderfully authentic survivor of the events of 1940. Peter keeps it at a farm strip near North Moreton, Oxfordshire. Several times the late Wg Cdr Bob Foster, who downed three German aircraft in this Hurricane while serving with 605, was re-united with his former mount.